According to James Gunn, Marvel didn't know he was directing "The Suicide Squad" when they rehired him to helm "Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3".
The 53-year-old filmmaker was fired as the director of the 'Guardians' franchise following the emergence of a series of offensive Twitter messages, and James - who was subsequently rehired by the studio - has now admitted Marvel wasn't aware he was also committed to the "Suicide Squad" project.
Asked on Instagram whether directing the "Suicide Squad" movie had influenced the decision to rehire him, James replied: "I know for a fact they would have as they didn't know about Squad when they first talked to me."
After Disney - which owns Marvel - announced it was rehiring James to helm "Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3", the director released a statement saying he took "full responsibility" for the controversy.
James said at the time: "I feel bad for that and take full responsibility.
"Disney totally had the right to fire me. This wasn't a free speech issue. I said something they didn't like and they completely had the right to fire me. There was never any argument of that. That first day ... I'm going to say it was the most intense of my entire life.
"There have been other difficult days in my life, from the time I got sober when I was younger, to the death of friends who committed suicide.
"But this was incredibly intense. It happened, and suddenly it seemed like everything was gone. I just knew, in a moment that happened incredibly quickly, I had been fired. It felt as if my career was over."